Emergency irrigation declaration won’t be much help here
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in chief
Monday’s state of emergency declaration by Gov. Scott Walker will provide little relief for drought-parched farm fields here because most local farmers don’t irrigate.
That is the assessment of Kim Iczkowski, executive director for the federal Farm Service Agency serving Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee counties.
“The majority of the farmers around here don’t irrigate, so they don’t have the equipment to take advantage of it,” she said.
Monday’s declaration allows farmers to seek expedited permits to temporarily use stream or lake water for irrigation.
Racine, Walworth and Kenosha counties are among the 42 counties in Wisconsin named in the state of emergency declaration due to the dry conditions.
“The lack of rainfall since May in the southern half of the state has hit hard in a crucial part of the growing season,” Walker said in a statement released by his office Monday.
Walker encouraged farmers to report crop conditions to their local FSA office, which is in Union Grove. The FSA compiles this information. Information gathered would provide the basis for the governor to request a disaster declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, which could make low-cost emergency loans and other assistance available to farmers.
The U.S. Drought Monitor for the first time this week reported the southern tiers of Wisconsin counties to be in drought and the rest of the southern half of the state has been labeled abnormally dry.
Iczkowski said the drought continues at a crucial time for the corn crop.
“It’s not looking good,” she said. “Every day that passes (without rain), it looks worse.”
Most farmers are taking a wait-and-see approach to the impact on the soybean crop.
“Most farmers say, ‘Corn is made in July and beans are made in August,’” Iczkowski said.
Hay cuttings have become progressively worse.
The bottom line, of course, is that farmers will likely see significant loss of their investment if the weather doesn’t turn.
“That’s their income,” Iczkowski said. “They’ve got so many expenses that go into it. If they don’t get anything out of it, they’re in a losing situation.”
Iczkowski estimated that a majority of area farmers carry private crop insurance – which will soften the blow – but for those who don’t, continued drought could be devastating.
She even said a federal disaster declaration – which would create emergency loans – doesn’t have a huge impact here because most local farmers don’t take advantage of them.
The best remedy, she said, is rain.
“We just need some good, soaking days-long rain.”
Farmers who wish to report crop conditions to the local FSA office should call (262) 878-3353.
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